“I can do my own damn hunting,” Sir Forrest said. “I’m not eating something the cat literally dragged in. But, fine. I don’t have time to argue. Take the beast.”
We started walking back to my house. I still had so many questions but I had the feeling Sir Forrest wouldn’t answer them until we were moving. He hung back a little as Mom and I walked ahead of him, and I dared to glance at her. “You knew about this?” I whispered. “And you…you think it’s okay for me to leave?”
“I’ve known since you were away with the troupe,” she said.
“How?”
“I was contacted with a message from one of the Elders from the Palace of Stones. They sensed your presence when you were in the capital and warned me about what to expect. The message said you were safe until your powers awakened and that they were sending Sir Forrest to watch over you until the time came…” Her lips pinched, revealing a long-held fear. How had I not known? Then again, when I came back from the troupe, everything seemed different.
“I can’t believe you kept a secret like that from me! I could’ve prepared for it.”
“How could you prepare?” She looked down, not even glancing at the gardens we passed as we hiked up the cobblestone path. Mom usually noticed every blooming flower in everyone’s yard. “There was nothing to be done until you were ready. I worried it would only make your years here harder. You would be frightened on one hand, and anxious to go on the other. I know you. You miss seeing the world. Now, if all of this works out, many more people will be able to see the world again. We wouldn’t have to live in fear behind walls…”
“And you trust this guy?” I jabbed a thumb back toward Sir Forrest.
“He is your guardian,” she said. “He showed me his sigil. He is bound by fate to protect you, no matter what. And you have the ability to heal him and lend him strength.”
“I do?”
“Read the book,” she said, with a heavy sigh, and gave the book back to me.
It didn’t take a genius to guess that the “Trine” had something to do with lending strength to my guardians. I quickly glanced back at my first guardian. He shielded his beautiful eyes with one broad hand as he looked up to note the position of the sun. You can call me Sir Forrest, now that we’re about to be intimately acquainted, like it or not.
Intimately acquainted. Like it or not.
I had two voices in my head. One was freaking out, and the other one was like, Girl, let’s do this…
Chapter Two
“We really shouldn’t linger,” Sir Forrest said, when I stopped to say goodbye to our two goats. “The less people gossip around here about Phoebe’s disappearance, the better.”
I glared at him for interrupting my goat snuggles. “Oh, they’re going to gossip. This town has four hundred and twenty two people. Once they spent a week discussing the time a squirrel somehow got an acorn cap on its head and wore it like a tiny hat.”
“I hate small towns,” he muttered. “The sooner we’re back to civilization, the easier it is to disappear. Get the cat and a change of clothes and we’ll be off.”
“Wow, can you tone down your enthusiasm to be my guardian?” I said. “I’m not thrilled about this either.”
His mouth tightened. “You misunderstand me.”
“I don’t know what there is to misunderstand.”
But he didn’t really answer. One of those quiet-when-it-suits-him types. Sigh.
I opened the door and Wretch shot out, her black wings spread, letting out a meow of annoyance. The inside of the door was covered in scratches from top to bottom, expressing Wretch’s displeasure at all the times we had ever shut her up in the house. She landed at my feet, folding her wings and weaving around my legs, looking at Sir Forrest suspiciously.
“It’s okay, muffin,” I assured her. “I wouldn’t bother him, but he’s…he’s fine, I guess.”
“I’ll get my horse,” he said. “Be ready by the time I return.”
I only owned a few changes of clothes anyway, if you didn’t count the old costumes and things I bought on tour that didn’t really fit, so I went to my little attic room, changed into a blouse and skirt, and rolled up the other two outfits into a bundle. The whole time I felt this blurred mixture of excitement and terror. I could hardly think straight. My eyes roamed over the bed, the window, the desk—all the things I called my own. Would I ever see them again?
I was about to head out on the road with a slightly irascible stranger, and if the Black Army knew I was alive, they would kill me.
And yet, as terrifying as that sounded, it also felt right.
Maybe I had always known I was meant for more than Istim.
When I came back outside, some curious neighbors had gathered around. They were murmuring about the monster breaching the wall. “…a flying one, not a good sign…” “…not usually that clever, are they?” “Never been sure about that Argrave, but it was a good thing he had his sword.”
“Phoebe, are you all right?” Mrs. Balbron asked me. She lived two houses down, a sweet old lady who grew and sold all sorts of exotic herbs. If you came to her asking for an ounce of nettles for tea, she would spend an hour telling you everything she knew about them, so I’d learned a lot from her, like it or not.
“Oh, me? I’m fine,” I said, sounding a little too bright. “Not a scratch on me. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to sing April Hearts.”
“Sing us a few bars now!” Mrs. Balbron suggested. The neighbors nodded.
“Well…” I lifted a hand, modestly. “I mean, I guess, if you insist—‘She was my April girl—blooming in the spring—!’”
Sir Forrest came galloping up the path. “Phoebe has been accepted to school,” he said, decisively interrupting me.
“School? What school?” asked Kitty Baker from down the lane.
“Music school. In Capamere. She didn’t want to tell anyone unless it was a sure thing. She needs an escort so I’ll be taking her.” He put his huge hands around my waist and lifted me onto the horse. Wretch crawled onto my lap. Her fur was puffed at the base of her tail. Sir Forrest stuffed my extra dresses into his saddle bags.
Mom was trying to elaborate on the school story. “Yes, it was really a huge surprise. Phoebe applied but she never expected to be accepted. It’s for the best. We all know she’s not fit for life in Istim.”
“I didn’t even know you and Mr. Argrave were acquainted,” Kitty said, looking jealous.
A second later, Sir Forrest swung up behind me. “Say goodbye,” he whispered into my ear, which felt ominous.
“Goodbye,” I said.
“Be careful of monsters!” Mrs. Balbron called. “It’s not safe out there!”
“You know I’ll guard her with every bone in my body and every drop of my life’s blood,” Sir Forrest told my mother.
Speaking of ominous…
He spurred on his horse. We rode down the Hill Road, his arm around me. I had rarely been on a horse, and I had certainly never been on a horse with a man’s strong arm holding me close. I felt his warmth even through his study clothing. My mind was unsure of him, but my body felt strangely secure.
I took in the familiar sights of town as if they were new, knowing that I wouldn’t see any of this again for some time. Simple, cozy houses with thatched roofs, a handful of shops. The inn was the largest building in town, two full stories. It had a dining room and tavern below, and three beds upstairs. Hardly anyone stayed there. Tulips and daffodils were blooming in all the yards, and a spring-fed creek wound down from the hill through a canal. There was hardly an inch of town or a person who lived here that I didn’t know. I had been dreaming of leaving again for three years, but now tears welled in my eyes. I quickly wiped them away.
As we rode, more townsfolk were emerging from doors to stare, gathering like they were watching a parade. I waved at a few of my friends, but since I couldn’t say proper goodbyes, it was awkward.
The watchmen opened the gates as we approached. In the spring a
nd early summer, wild berries grew in the fields and forests outside, so a few times a year, the best archers and fighters in town would guard the perimeter while the rest of us picked berries. That was far as I’d ever gone, without being safely ensconced within an armored carriage.
Now, the horse flew down the path. Within moments, the gates were behind us, and I was out in the world with only this stranger to protect me. I would honestly rather be naked inside the walls than properly clothed on a horse outside of them.
“How are we going to stay safe?” I asked. “Caravans always have at least two guards, and usually more…”
“You see my sword?” he said. “It was given to me by the Elder who told me I was your guardian. It’s called the Monster Cleaver for a reason.”
“Okay, I can appreciate where this is going,” I said, recalling how quickly he’d struck down the monster who tried to rush me on stage. “But don’t they roam in packs sometimes?”
“At night,” he said. “We just need to make sure we reach one of the safe houses before dark. I can sense them coming.”
“You can?”
“It’s one of the abilities granted to me when I became your guardian. And I will grow stronger…as we spend more time together.”
He was alert, and so was Wretch. They both glanced toward every little sound in the forest around us. This was not a very threatening forest; scrubby trees broken up by meadows. We passed the remains of farmsteads that existed outside the walls of Istim a century ago and once supported the town. Before the monsters came, much of the outlying areas off the roads were farmed. Stone walls lined the road, rotting barns sagged, and peeling signs still named the farms that were long gone. “See, a monster has been here,” he said. “Maybe the one that reached the village. I can sense the remnants of its presence. But it’s moved on. If one comes for us, I’ll have warning.”
“How did you find out you were my guardian?” I asked.
“It’s a long story.”
“Good thing we don’t have anywhere to be.”
“I was—in the capital,” he said. “I had been in the Black Army for the past five years, and…I’d seen too much. When I joined, I was proud to serve my nation, but when I saw cities fall to Commander Abel…” I sensed him stiffen, and he changed course. “A hundred years ago, as I’m sure you know, the Elders of the Tower of Stones were the leaders of this realm. All cities answered to the ultimate authority of the Elders. The Elders were the ones who would find each priestess and her guardians. For centuries, that held, until the priestess and her guardians died and the Elders couldn’t find a replacement. The monsters started flooding the land. The King of Capamere declared martial law and took it upon himself to protect the gate and the towns as best he could—and then he started unseating other rulers, conquering cities, declaring himself the Emperor and saying he was the only one who can protect people.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, glazing a little, although I was trying not to. “So you mean the first Emperor was a bad guy? And Emperor Leonidas? He’s killing the priestesses?”
“I had always thought that the Black Army was necessary to protect people from the monsters,” he said. “But when I was in it…we didn’t protect people. We subdued them. Oppressed them. Worse things…” He swallowed.
I felt a little uncertain. This totally went against everything I’d heard. “I met him once,” I said. “Emperor Leonidas. When I was in the troupe. We all thought he was a hero. And pretty dashing for an old guy. He was really gallant and welcoming, to us. But—”
“It’s all right, Phoebe,” Sir Forrest said, his voice growing rougher as he tried to be gentle. “Everyone thought that. Leonidas is a charismatic man, as his father was before him. And the Strawberry Girls are just propaganda, that’s all.”
“Propaganda?” I crossed my arms. “We made people happy.”
“That’s what propaganda does. It’s not just brainwashing. It can also be a distraction.”
“Hmph.”
“I thought you wanted to hear this story, not defend the man who will be trying to kill you.”
“I’m not defending him, I just…” I waved a hand. “Go on. You were in the army, and how did you get out?”
“I started searching for someone who would stand up to the Emperor, and that was when I met Elder Dion. He was the one who identified that I was a guardian and told me the true fate of the priestesses, that the Black Army had been quietly disposing of them for the past century and beyond, before they could collect their guardians and go to the gate. When one priestess dies, it takes about five years for another priestess to rise. It is believed that twenty-two girls have been killed before you.”
“Great odds…”
“All we can do is look to the future. Now, the Elders are monitored heavily by the empire. Their ability to practice their faith is greatly restricted. They have their ways of getting word past the guard, though. He gave me the Monster Cleaver and awakened my sigil so I could track your presence.”
“Your sigil?”
“They’re symbols that appear on our skin, establishing a magical connection between us. I’ll show you later.”
There was something romantic about this idea, that Sir Forrest had been watching over me for these past few years, and I had never known. He must have watched me at a distance, but he had never let on that he was waiting for me. I wondered what he thought of me.
I shivered. “Twenty-two girls,” I said. “And not a single priestess has evaded the Black Army? Why would we be any different? We’re going to die!”
“No,” he said, his arm clenching tighter around me.
I waited a moment before saying, “Okay…you want to give me a reason why not?”
He paused. “The Black Army is overstretched right now. Their years of wins have made them overconfident, but this attempt to conquer Gaermon Castle is too much. It’s too far from the capital. The supply chains are vulnerable. The Gaermon are formidable warriors. Their castle has never fallen.”
“You’re just kind of making that up, aren’t you?” I said. “The Black Army has had challenging fights before.”
He stiffened, tugging the reins. His attention was far ahead of us now. Wretch dove forward, landing on the path ahead, holding out her wings to look bigger.
“Monsters?” I asked, feeling my chest tighten with panic. I knew what Sir Forrest and his sword could do, but I had never been out in the open like this in my life.
“Just one,” he said. “You wait here.”
Chapter Three
He dismounted, took out a flask and swigged from it. “You want some?” He offered me the container.
“Uh, no,” I said. “Are you sure you ought to be drinking at a time like this?”
“I’ve survived this long,” he said. “Whatever I do, it must be working.”
“Fair enough.” I took the flask and drank. The liquid slid down my throat like fire, but I was braced for it and managed not to cough.
Something scurried through the bushes on the side of the road. Wretch hissed, slowly backing up toward me. The monster growled back at her. It was louder and larger, its black bulk shaking the bushes as it moved around.
I wished I had a knife or something. I was completely defenseless.
The creature scurried into the path. It was four or five feet long from nose to tail, with a somewhat twisted aspect. Its back was hunched and one of its little hands was bent at an angle, so it limped as it scurried along. Rocks jutted from its black scales. The rocks grew from the monsters’ skin sometimes, an additional armor that made it harder to get a clean swipe at them. Their ears were pointed and alert, constantly swiveling to listen, and their mouths were full of fangs. Stories said that if a pack of them got you, they would rip off chunks of your flesh with their little hands and eat you alive.
Creepiest of all, their eyes had whites and were almost human, vivid golden irises glaring beneath a scaled ridge of overhanging brow. The monster looked at Wretch and then at me,
and it almost looked intelligent, but demonic. Wretch was growling low and making menacing little smacking and swallowing sounds. That meant serious business. Like, “the big gray tom cat is at the window” levels of seriousness. (All the ordinary ground-bound cats in town wanted to get with Wretch, and she wasn’t having it. Unfortunately. I wanted kittens!)
Sir Forrest would probably be really impressed if I was brave, I thought. Then I realized I was already screaming without hardly realizing it.
“Sasa,” the creature hissed at Wretch, and then it ran toward me. Holy stones, it was fast. I hopped back.
Wretch flew at the monster, her wings flapping as she took a swipe at its face.
“Get your cat away from it or I might harm her on accident!” Sir Forrest shouted.
“Wretch!” I screamed. “Come to me! Please!” I clapped my hands at her like I was trying to draw her attention away from a bird or something. “Get off that thing!”
Wretch and the monster descended into a tangle of limbs, fur, and Wretch’s beating wings and feline scream. The monster made hissing sounds. “Sasa sor…”
Sir Forrest kicked the monster in the side, breaking them up. Wretch flew toward me now, and I held out my arms to catch her. She settled into them, her little lungs heaving, and licked my chin. I checked her for wounds. She seemed all right. Thank goodness.
Sir Forrest swung his sword, and the monster met an instant death, the tough scales immediately succumbing to the blade. Its head rolled one way while its body crumpled.
“Not a big deal,” he said.
“Gods…” I was queasy.
“You just better keep that cat out of it.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve never seen her act like that before.”
He grunted with annoyance and climbed back up behind me, briefly placing his hands on my hips as he resettled against me. My skin tingled beneath the crude weave of my work dress. He was holding me closer than he needed to, and his hands were protective. No big deal? Yeah, right. He was worried for me.
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